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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Red Lobster's Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

This recipe comes straight from the Red Lobster's website. I actually wanted to make their Fish in a Bag because that's my favorite meal there but ended up feeling that was too complex for a week night. It was extremely simple to put together and a perfect dinner during Lent. It's so good and easy it's worth considering adding this to your regular meal rotation because we all know we should add more lean protein like fish to our diets :). I intended to also try the Red Lobster Copycat Cheese Biscuit Recipe from Jes' blog but got too lazy that night. Maybe next time...

I halved the recipe for the two of us but will leave the original recipe for 4 intact. I ended up using those individually wrapped tilapia filets that you can get at like Kroger and then brushed each with a thick coat of alfredo and then sprinkled some bread crumbs, parmesan, and parsley on top instead of pre-mixing them in a bowl. I figured it would taste the same and was much easier :). The bread crumbs give it a nice crunch to an otherwise tender and flaky fish but without the whole frying thing (which, I think we established in the Pretzel Chicken Tenders post I just prefer to avoid...). Sadly, I didn't have any panko on hand and settled for the regular italian seasoned bread crumbs that I had. I know it would have been a million times better with panko.

I chose to use my Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce (leftover from when I made Pasta Bravo) as the sauce for the fish and pasta for simplicity but you can always use the recipe supplied here. Again, multiple sauce use makes life easier!

Need more ideas for Lent? There are many meals on my blog with which you can subsitute meat choices (ex: Chicken Lo Mein or Fried Rice but with shrimp instead of other meats). I also found there to be plenty of delicious looking recipes on Red Lobster's Recipe Files (amazing that they can share so many of what you'd think are top secret recipes!).

Spray a 9X13 baking dish with Non-stick Cooking Spray. Place the 4 Tilapia fillets in the dish and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the Panko bread crumbs and ½ cup Parmesan cheese to make the crust for the topping. Set aside.

To assemble the Parmesan Base, place ½ cup Parmesan cheese, 1 Tbsp. parsley and the prepared Alfredo sauce in a medium bowl and stir well. Remove ½ cup of the mixture (reserving the rest to make the Parmesan Cream Sauce) and brush onto the 4 pieces of Tilapia, making a thick, even covering on the fish. Evenly sprinkle the Parmesan Crust on top of the fish. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 15-20 minutes or until fish reaches 140-150 degrees and the crust is golden brown.

Meanwhile while the fish is baking, make the Parmesan Cream sauce if desired for using on pasta. Place the remaining Parmesan Base in a medium sauce pan, add the fresh Basil, Wine, and Half and Half and heat over medium heat until the sauce is simmering, stirring often.

Toss the Parmesan Cream Sauce (or other prepared alfredo sauce) and the Linguini together and serve with the Parmesan Crusted Tilapia. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese if desired.